SEC Media Days: Lots of talk Monday and some news as well

SEC Media Days kicked off Monday with Commissioner Greg Sankey followed by head coaches Jimbo Fisher, Mark Stoops and Ed Orgeron.

SEC football never needs a bigger dose of hype. It really does ‘mean more’ to so many fans, the anticipation for each new season overflows in July and August. SEC Media Days is a companion piece to that anticipation. For fans, it is like finding an oasis in the desert that is every offseason.

This year, SEC Media Days is abruptly in Atlanta rather than Birmingham. There is no truth to the rumor a caravan of tractors were spotted in I-459 taking the Hoover exit very early this morning. The tractors were first believed to be Auburn fans mistakenly trying to get to the Winfrey Hotel for Media Days. The tractors were orange-colored, driven by men in overalls, but they turned out to be mowing equipment.

Commissioner Greg Sankey

The SEC Commissioner opened the event and promptly announced SEC media Days will return to Hoover next year. After that, the event may be rotated around the footprint of the league.

Sankey also said with the expansion of legal sports gambling, he would not oppose a uniform standard for schools releasing injury information. He reported changes in the game pace of play reduced the average duration of games by six minutes last season. Efforts will continue to further reduce the length of games.

In no surprise, he confirmed the 6-1-1 scheduling model is the clear preference of the member schools. Here is a full transcript of Sankey’s remarks and the Q&A that followed.

Jimbo Fisher

The $75 million man said it is “never about the money.” Jimbo also joked with Paul Finebaum that with Paul’s new ESPN deal, he (Jimbo) is no longer the highest paid guy in the SEC.

Fisher also said the timetable to win a championship is “now.” Fisher is the fastest-talking coach in college football. it will take more than fast talk to win “now” at Texas A&M. Like all coaches with new teams, Jimbo emphasized a new level of toughness for the Aggies. Specifically talking about the quarterback position, Fisher said,

"If your quarterback is not the toughest guy on your team then your team is not going to be tough."

Mark Stoops

Stoops was refreshing in his directness. He admitted the Kentucky football program is “tired of being close.” When asked about the Wildcats losing streak to Florida that goes back to 1987, he answered,

"I always look forward to that annual question here…You can’t hide from the elephant in the room. It’s been a long time. We need to beat Florida, but we need to beat a lot of teams on our schedule."

Here is the full transcript of Mark Stoops.

Ed Orgeron

First, an obligatory Coach O joke,

Coach O admitted that his hire of Matt Canada last year was a mistake, calling it “not the right fit.” Talking about his two losses to Alabama as LSU head coach, Orgeron said,

"if you look at last year’s game at Alabama, it was a physical contest. We felt that we could handle them physically and compete with them, and that was the first time I think our players felt that in a while.We missed some plays. We had DJ Chark open…Their passing game gave us problems, and their quarterback made plays and we didn’t.Almost is not good enough against Alabama. But we feel that a couple of plays here and there and continue to be physically, we’re going to be right in there with them."

Here is a full transcript of Ed Orgeron provided by Saturday Down South.

Next: Get to know the new Tide secondary for 2018

Tuesday’s SEC Media Days schedule has four teams showcased. The stars for Tuesday will be Chad Morris, Dan Mullen, Kirby Smart and Matt Luke.